


Redemption; Change isn't Impossible in the Hearts of Those Hated.

by FaerieMayden



Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Always procrastinating so just a heads up, But messages and kudos always help so, Dark Link - Freeform, Do that maybe, Fan-fiction, Gonna try my hardest to finish this darnit, How Do I Tag, M/M, Ocarina of Time, Possible shipping in the future, Post-OoT, link - Freeform, the legend of zelda - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-12
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 07:59:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3167399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaerieMayden/pseuds/FaerieMayden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Ocarina of Time, Link's finding Hyrule is already falling into the hands of darkness and evil once again. He needs the help of a very unlikely ally; one that shares a face with him. Dark Link. Will the shadow of himself help him, or watch as the Hero is forced to helplessly witness the demise of his home, crumbling before his very eyes?</p><p>!!DISCONTINUED!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prophecy of the Goddesses

**Author's Note:**

> Gonna try really hard to finish this, darnit. I procrastinate too much and need to overcome that horrible habit.
> 
> Can also be found on Quotev! Look for FaerieMayden, the story will be shortened to "Redemption".

Seven years after a timeline long forgotten, deleted from existence to never be remembered by people other than there present, trouble arises once more. It is usually impossible for evil to arise twice in a lifetime, as the Goddesses powers are replenished and they are able to hold for extended periods of time…however, the Hero’s condemning holy blade was not enough, and evil plots it’s upbringing once again…  
\---  
Link had to leave Kokiri forest, eventually.  
He was getting older, bigger, growing even more distant from the tribal children forest than he had been already. One day Link had gone to Saria, in the Sacred Grove, and sorrowfully informed her that he would be leaving. Even Saria had grown a bit distant in the years past, but he felt a sort of obligation to inform her of where he would be going before his departure. They had been friends, after all, his only friend.

 

On his way out to that bridge…the bridge that had marked the official beginning of his adventure, he felt like he was reliving that timeline all over again, only at adult age like that he’d been when he pried the sword out of the sacred pedestal…14, or 7 years ago? It was hard saying really, as to everyone but him, it had never happened. The sword continued to lay in it’s slumber, undisturbed for the last several generations. Saria had met him yet again at the bridge, him re-obtaining the Fairy Ocarina. He had to refrain from hugging her, as he would have done if he was smaller. He'd not done so when he left on his first adventure, instead backed out. He regretted it, but somehow it felt like it would be wrong if he were to do it now, as a teenager.

 

He’d ventured out onto Hyrule Field, wandering aimlessly, feeling as if he didn’t belong anywhere. He was not Hylian nor Kokiri, and nobody remembered him, or his reputation. So he wanders without any particular direction or destination. The land was supposed to be free of Stalfos, as the evil had been locked away…so he found it rather suspicious, as well as surprising, that one had attacked him as he lay on the field facing the moon and stars, wondering what his new goal was.  
He’d been idly wondering where Navi was…The Great Deku Tree hadn’t seemed to remember who that was, as if she’d never been created to be his guardian…she had been annoying, sure, but he had to miss her, in a strange sort of way.

 

The following morning he’d been attacked by several more Stalfos. Sure they’d light up on fire as they swung at him, letting out maddened, pained cackles of glee as they burned to ash, but they never arose from their graves in the ground. Warriors long forgotten in the bloody wars of the past were never disrupted by the warmth of the sun, but only the haunting silence of the moon. So it had been strange to him, as well, that they’d dare to awaken in a time so painful for them. After killing what was definitely the umpteenth Stalfos (he'd lost count), he'd played a sad tune, it drifting in the wind but falling on no ears but his own.

 

Eventually he’d headed to the Temple of Time. He didn't have the stones, and the doors were sealed shut. He bows to his one knee on the Tri-force placed neatly by ancient, but perfect red rug, praying to the Goddesses above, asking for answers, that if he should prepare for another adventure that shouldn't be of his own, but a reincarnation of himself in generations that had yet to pass.

 

He lets out a gasp, trembling as a flash of light then darkness consumes his vision. He could still move around the room if he pleased, but it was as if he was blind. A vision fills his gaze, of piercing red eyes. They intimidated him, something that felt foreign to the Hero of Courage, but reminded him of something he’d defeated long ago, something he’d left in the back of his mind to be forgotten. His other self.

 

Well, assuming he could call an embodiment of darkness and evil itself “his other self”, but the thought of looking into those eyes and seeing himself with dark intent…it had haunted him. Voices whispered in a tongue he couldn't understand, but their voices were calm, not haunting as if he should be concerned that that oh-so-familiar face was filling his blinded gaze. As if he would arise again.

 

Finally the vision shows him walking back into the Water Temple, a silhouette laying down, propped up against a tree cast of illusion in the mini-boss room. He felt like he needed to go there. Then the grip of the Goddesses leaves him and he's left laying there on top the Tri-force, breathing deeply with as dry a throat as Gerudo Valley's sands, as if he'd just run from one side of Hyrule Field to the other, reducing him to panting on his hands and knees. But the sacred doors to the Sword of Time opens, and he immediately knows his new assignment.

 

Even without words or direct hinting from the Goddesses and only a vision to say, Link knew what he needed to do, and he knew who that was laying against that tree. He didn't know why, and definitely didn't know how the other was back after being defeated right before Link’s eyes, but he needed to go there and talk to him.

 

Dark Link.


	2. Never Trust Your Shadow.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link and Dark Link face off in a duel of loyalty.  
> It doesn't go too well... Or does it?

Link had made his way back to the Water Temple. Though it hadn’t been very easy, since he had no reputation with the Zoras and therefore had to slave away in the field to round up the rupees to pay for a tunic so he wouldn’t drown. That had taken him plenty of time, but beat death. The Temple was lacking in mobs, a blessing from the Goddesses as he makes his way to the room he’d fought Dark Link in all those years ago. It had the illusions up once more, dead tree and endless abyss of water underfoot. He knew it was all fake, but it was still eerie, triggered by Dark Link’s presence. The doors went unlocked and he could proceed unlike last time, but that was not his goal at this very moment.

Link turns a full circle around the tree. Nothing was there. However, the second time, there was a dark form propped up against it, crimson eyes glaring hatefully at his twin. The hatred burning had become a distant memory in the past seven years he’d regained, and this was a startling reminder of just how intense the looks of various creatures were. At the time he’d grown used to it, but he took a step back from the lack of exposure lately.

“What are you doing here,” Dark Link growls, and it wasn’t a question, it was a warning for him to leave him alone. In truth, Dark Link wondered why he himself was here. Moments prior he’d been in a dark abyss, feeling like he was forever floating. Ice cold and silent as the consciousness when you’re falling asleep, if not more so. Link had slain him, he had won, and surely had beaten Ganon as well if he was still alive. In darkness, one has no sense of how slow or fast time passes. Seven years had passed since Dark Link ever saw light.

“Finding you,” Link grunts in response. The boy, normally clad in green but now blue, had been successful, as well. It was surprising to hear the Hylian-raised-Kokiri’s voice, as Dark Link had never heard it while they brawled. Hardly anybody gets to hear Link speak whether in combat or not. He only spoke when spoken to, if even that, hardly in full sentences.

“What would you need to find me for?” Dark Link asks, having not moved from his position propped up against the tree and damp sand keeping him from being constantly submerged in the unreal, ice-cold water filling the room. “Prophecy from the Goddesses, involving you,” Link replies, and that was possibly the longest thing he’d said in awhile. Dark Link didn’t seem too pleased, however. “What, did they think I wasn’t dead enough and needed to make sure not even all of Ganon’s magic would bring me back?” He hisses, and then laughs bitterly. “Flattering to think the Goddesses see me as that dangerous, when I was beaten into the dirt by a mere mortal.”

“No, that is not why I was sent here,” Link replies, taking a step forward. The moment he blinks however, a familiar shadowed blade was pointed at him. Despite this he doesn’t dare arm himself as well, as that was asking for an unnecessary battle. Neither of them needed to bare wounds from each other when they share the same enemy, even if Link was armed with several fairies. That wasn’t the point here.

“Then why, dear Hero,” he spat, “are you here, if not to kill me a second time?” Link knew the answer, and yet he was just as confused if not more so. Why did the Goddesses send him to partner up with an embodiment of evil? But then he notices something. The faintest golden glow coming from Dark Link’s palm. This causes Link to glance down at his own, which was faintly reacting as well. Upon noticing this Link points an index at the back of his hand, before pointing to Dark Link’s own. This causes the shadow to glance down at his own hand, starting at the realization. Dark Link didn’t seem to have realized, nor did Link, that his TriForce was more than initially thought. It was thought as basically the same as a tattoo, to make him even more a mirror image of his real self.

Link thinks back to the Triforce and it’s three triangles. In the middle of it was a black space...is that what Dark Link’s Tri-Force represented, the middle?

“So?” His darker self questions, face still scrunched up in that constantly angry expression, unlike Link’s, which was rather relaxed and calm, regardless of the situations he might find himself in. A hero needed to be collected and not collapse under his emotions, after all, as emotions clouded judgement. “The Goddesses sent me here with the intent of us forming...a sort of pact, if you will,” Link says. “And until now I didn’t know of the TriForce on your hand, but I believe that further proves my point.” Forgot to mention that when Link does speak, it had the vocabulary of an adult rather than that of a child.

Dark Link scoffs. “A pact? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Link shakes his head, and the other sighs, slowly standing to his feet. His sword drags in his hand through the sand as he does so. “Well then, Hero,” he says once again in that mocking tone of his. “If you can beat me in a duel, then I suppose I cannot deny you my assistance.”

\--

Link falls back into the water, it so unreal but felt so, cold and soaking him despite being in a water-proof tunic. He was trembling, sword several feet away and a blade of darkness forcing his chin up to look death in the eye. They’d agreed that if Link won Dark Link would help, but if he lost that Dark Link could kill him.

Link was armed with fairies, as stated before, but who was to say that Dark Link wouldn’t kill him several times over? Dark Link’s crimson eyes glinted with mischief, and he smirks before backing off a step. “Weren’t you ever told to never trust your shadow?” He sneers, and when Link blinks again, his other self is gone.


	3. Four in Three Corners.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link attempts a second time, this time less intentionally, to form a pact with Dark Link.  
> How does it go? Well...

A few days after Dark Link disappeared, Link himself was thrown off and almost frantic. Note the almost, because he successfully contained his nervous behavior...at least for the most part.

What if darkness befell Hyrule once more, and Link was powerless without his Darker counterpart’s assistance? Could he be that cruel, if the Goddesses had sent Link after him? Surely they wouldn’t have him work with someone dark of heart like Ganon (though he was also pretty sure nobody could get as evil as Ganon. Goddesses, there were actual jokes and metaphors to grotesque things people used his name for. “Like Ganon”, “like His face”. Though he supposed appearance didn’t apply to evil tendencies, those comparisons existed for a reason. Well, at least before the timeline was erased. At the time, it was to people that saw him in the guard, before his reign over Hyrule...if anyone were to dare speak of his name in such a way when he did rule, they certainly had a death wish).

All these thoughts bugged Link for several agonizing days. He didn’t know what to do, where to look. For all he knew, Dark could be right there in his shadow, watching him fret. This thought even caused the Hero of Time to glance back at said shadow a few times with a wary eye, but never found anything out of the ordinary.

One day Link had decided to visit Kakariko Village, the sound of someone on a roof nearby playing a Harmonica oddly soothing. It was different from the terrified civilians that dared not leave their homes during Ganon’s time. It was relaxing...and made him proud for what he’s done, even if nobody even remembers it having ever happened. The horror, the kind that would make little boys and girls cry, grow up into adults at the age of nine...like Link himself had, actually. Only they weren’t at the front lines like he had been, they hadn’t felt the pain, only the fear...

Lo and behold, a flicker of movement catches in the corner of Link’s eye when he wanders into the cemetary. On the other side, in the very back, was Hyrule’s previous majestys’ graves, and guess who was sitting there on the corner of the biggest one, swinging his legs back and forth without a care in the world.

No other than Dark Link.

Link did not dare draw his sword, and rather ducked behind the gravestone in the front, half as tall as himself, and contemplated his options. If he revealed himself, there were tons of scenarios. Dark could flee, fight, humor then flee again...but before he could contemplate more drastic and desperate actions, he felt himself being poked on the shoulder. Upon looking up at the cloudy sky, he sees that it is instead blocked out by a dark figure. He’d been spotted. 

“Boo,” he says with an almost giddy chuckle, making Link scoot back in discomfort. “Thought I didn’t see you walk in, hm? Why, I’d recognize the face and clothes of the man that wears the same clothes as mine, of the man that took me out.” He finishes his sentence with malice in his tone, kicking off of the grave and standing before Link, hands on his hips before leaning over to be closer in height and not towering. “But not anymore, fairy boy. I beat you last time. That should have been that, so why are you here?” He hesitates for a moment, and when Link doesn’t speak, grins almost maniacally. “Oh, I see. You came upon me entirely on accident, didn’t you? “ Another chuckle, and Link decided he did not like that sound. It was too sinister, and made Link feel small, despite his capabilities. 

“If I had been truly trying last time Dark Link, I would have surely won...I didn’t want to risk putting you through unnecessary injury, but rather to earn your loyalty. My gentleness has failed me, and I am surprised you did not go through with your threat to kill me, were I to lose like I had.”

Dark Link had at some point drawn his sword, idly drilling a small hole into the dirt as he twirls it. But suddenly the calm motion stops dead, and Dark Link’s facial expression grows intense. “So, is that another challenge, then?” Link hadn’t necessarily intended for it to be so, but he could see how it would look like it, and realized whether it had been a subtle challenge or not, he would probably have to fight again in order to gain this guy’s loyalty, as obviously it wasn’t going to be earned by just talking and showing logic.   
Dark Link’s logic was that he didn’t care if the world ended; even if it were to split in half and swallow them whole and kill everyone, including himself...but Link did care, if not for himself then for the people of Hyrule, and he supposed that included Dark Link, seeing how he was no longer the enemy.

Didn’t look like Dark Link was willing to change his mindset without a fight, but Link might as well try, right?  
“But look at our hands,” he says, and for a moment his darker counterpart gives him a look like he’d gone mad, before recalling that Link had pointed out just the same thing back in the Water Temple and glancing briefly down before back at Link again. “And your point? It’s just to copy you. That’s all.” Link shakes his hand, standing up. “I realized something while walking around looking for you. There’s three triforces stacked upon each other...Power, Wisdom, and Courage...but what about the dark center, that’s holding it all in place?”

Dark Link’s ear flicks as he stares at his palm for a long moment, before scoffing and scooping his bangs out of his face, flicking it back even though it wasn’t in the way and letting out a chuckle. “The Goddesses wouldn’t need me. Surely, the center was merely but a flaw in their creative little design. It must be a coincidence...” Link shakes his head. “There is the chance you are correct, but I also have a feeling that there is a reason there’s a black space in the middle there, Dark.” The shadowed version snarls at the nickname, but what good would it do to call each other Link? It would just get confusing, after awhile.

Hopefully there wouldn’t be an awhile, he thought bitterly to himself. Since when was he getting the idea he would help Link out on his journey?  
...Apparently right now, as Dark Link’s mouth appeared to be running faster than his head.

“Alright Hero, I believe you’ve at least somewhat convinced me. Take me on my quest, use me to save the world, then seal me back away. Because after all, I’m evil and won’t change, even if I am under a temporary loyalty contract that was supposed to start after you beat me, I’m feeling generous today. Just hope that I am for the remainder of this quest, as well. After all...

you’re never to trust your shadow.”


	4. Stressors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Link feels a small burst of positive energy.  
> The two of them venture to the Forest Temple, only to find it's...different.
> 
> This is going to be harder than originally thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I just know this chapter isn't nearly as good as the others. I might rewrite it when I'm more coherent. But I typed this almost immediately after I woke up from a cat nap and even an hour later, I'm still feeling groggy and my vision is blurry. But I felt I needed to get a chapter in, so here. Enjoy, I suppose, painful as it might be. :B

Link had been rather on edge around Dark Link after that.

He was afraid of going to sleep. Something told him Dark Link was just trying to intimidate him to make work harder, because he was sleep deprived and sometimes not as aware as he would hope to be. It was frustrating, but he’d had to put up with worse, and there wasn’t really anything he could do about it. Dark Link was needed, and he’d gone to a lot of effort to get him on his side. This was the bad side of the consequences, he supposed.

“Is this seriously what you did all day back when you were fighting to save Hyrule? Kill monsters and camp? How boring,” says Dark Link, whom was watching Link eat a small assortment of food for dinner. Link had to set it all up by himself, much as he hoped he wouldn’t have to do so. All Dark Link was doing was kicking back in a tree and watching Link with a smug smirk that aggravated him. But Link was a patient person, and just dealt with it. Besides, he’d had to set up camp himself prior to this second aventure. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t figure it out.

“Yes, that’s just about the gist of it. Kill the monsters plaguing the land, eat, pray for some sleep, and get some flattery from the princess. Hopefully this time it won’t send me back in time again.” He mumbles the last part. Link did like reliving the seven years, he supposed, but he was even more outcast to everyone, too wise, and seen too much to be in a forest village surrounded by forever young children. The only upside was that nobody remembered, and he wasn’t being assaulted by attention and appreciative Hylians, Gorons, and Zoras.

“Wow, being a good guy is boring,” Dark Link says with a chuckle. “Can’t believe you could be so evil to drag me along with you.” Link shoots Dark a glare from the corner of his eye, crystal blue eyes piercing before he collects himself and sighs deeply. “Jeez, okay, okay. I won’t talk anymore, fine. No need to be like that.” Dark Link gets up from his laying down position in the tree, leaning down to take an apple from the cloth Link had set the fruits on and biting unnaturally sharp fangs, unlike Link’s, into the apple, biting off a chunk and chewing.

For a moment Link was positive he’d seen a look of shock on Dark Link’s face at the apple’s juicy sweetness, but it had disappeared as fast as it came. The darker counterpart turns on his heel then, wandering off to presumably go explore a bit. Link wanted to keep him in sight, but wasn’t about to tie him down in his sights like some sort of prisoner. Mischievous as Dark Link was, he was to be treated as an ally, even if the treatment was not always mutual. Dark wasn’t trying to kill him, so that was a start, he supposed.

Link takes the time his partner is absent to lean up against a tree, peeling an orange and relaxing. He would see Dark Link coming, certainly, and his shoulders were getting sore from how often they were hiked up. Hard as it was, what with everything he’s been through, Link forces himself to relax, ears to not be perked alert, but relaxed like they should be when the mental state is healthy.

Without realizing it he’d dozed off, slumping over into the dirt and orange peel slipping off of his lap, and onto the grass below him. It was some point shortly after that Dark Link’s silent footsteps make contact with the steadily drying grass, stressed out by the doom rising in the country once more. The formerly evil man had only shaken his head, opening a rucksack tossed off to the side to pull out a blanket and cover Link with it. He didn’t quite understand why he did so, but didn’t want to think about it either, afraid of the answer he might get.

Dark Link did feel cold however, despite common belief, so he grabs a blanket as well and props himself up against a tree opposite of his original self, covering up and resting his head upon a moss bed near the tree’s roots. His eyes shut and they doze off.

\--

Link wakes up the following morning, having for once not been woken up in the middle of the night due to some sort of breeze chilling him. He wasn’t even regular. He was in fact warm, it was nice, and he found himself hugging the blanket closer to himself.

Wait...blanket?

His eyes slowly flutter open, brow furrowing as he grips the blanket, looking at it in disbelief. Link had them on him, but never really used them, even when there were times he probably should. Question was...how did it get there?

“Don’t expect such acts of kindness in the future,” Dark Link hisses out, standing over Link and looking down at him with that crimson-gazed glare. The fact that Link was on the ground and therefore at a disadvantage would usually be very dangerous, but something told Link that Dark Link wasn’t planning on getting hostile. “Go on and get up, it’s really cold out today and I want to keep moving.” Link nods, swiftly picking up the camp and placing it all away in storage, said storage shrinking everything down to keep enough room for what was placed in there, and much more.

They set out once more, taking a detour route into The Lost Woods. It was key for getting all around Hyrule, and Link would probably need the weapons and stamina again in order to fight Ganon once more. Seven years of resting dumps your activity levels into a deep pool of water, never to return but only regain. So they were heading for the Sacred Grove. Saria would be there, he realizes idly, wondering if she would once more leave to become a guardian, or not become a target once more. Hopefully the latter, especially since Link wasn’t asleep anymore and would hopefully be able to prevent his childhood friend from falling victim to Ganon and his evil ways once more.

“This place is too quiet for my tastes,” Dark Link huffs as they weave their way through the maze that would lead to the Forest Temple in the back, as well as the Triforce’s pedestal.

Dark Link tried to avoid walking across the pedestal, as Link had, but it was as if something was calling for him. Somewhat idly he walks onto it, immediately falling to his knees and gritting his teeth as a warm feeling washes over him. A warmth that he’d never felt before...Link was naturally cold, supposedly being an embodiment of evil, so the warmth was...comforting, in a weird sort of way. He knew that the Goddesses were definitely responsible for this however, and attempts to shake the comforting feeling. He wanted to feel negative, but at the same time he didn’t. He was torturing himself by following guidelines of the darkness and not the light, the side he was on. Supposed to accept.

The Goddesses had forseen a potential timeline, to be doomed. Dark Link would lash out and kill Link by surprise. “Relax, Dark Hero,” a voice had murmured. Right into his ear, but not there. Nonetheless, it reacts, flicking in acknowledgement to the whisper in his mind. A hand briefly presses down on his back, and the feeling causes Dark Link to go almost completely limp, relaxing. They had pressed something. But then the warm, happy presence left, leaving Dark Link to slump over on the symbol, shivering with sensational overload.

“Dark, are you okay?” Link asks, walking over to the shadowed man and kneeling at height. Dark only hissed once more at the nickname, forcing himself onto somewhat unsteady feet. “Absolutely fine,” he replies with a snarl, climbing a nearby tree that had been growing, allowing easier access into the Forest Temple. Link hesitates a moment before following him, swinging up the branches and almost falling a couple of times as the branches thinned and failed to support his weight. Dark Link was like a shadow, and therefore much lighter.

But Link makes it, scrabbling for purchase on the platform leading into the temple. This place, he remembered, had been somewhat eerie. Though it paled in comparison to the Shadow Temple, it had a nice air to it as well, as anywhere with a forest theme would surely be. Little wisps of energy floated about, aimless in particular destination.

“This peaceful environment is disgusting,” Dark Link hissed, even though he had to admit that it was rather nice. Feeling good made him angry, strangely enough.  
“It’s peaceful usually, but with the monsters coming back, it’s got that little hint of negativity as well...I have a feeling that it’s going to be a lot harder this time, too. This room doesn’t look the same as it did before.” Eyes seemed to be peeking up from under slabs of stone on the floor, as if daring Link to walk across them. He immediately knew that he’d have to avoid them, but he didn’t know where most of them were, only that one. All of the tiles were the same, not a single distinguishable difference between real and fake tiles. There were also fissures littered about, blocking staircases and doors, wide enough to swallow even Ganon whole.

He was going to get beaten around quite a few times, as it appeared inevitable.


	5. The Acidic Dweller, Arkatuthus.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, Link nearly gets killed because Dark Link decides to be a dick and not help him right away.  
> Then uses Link's time of peril and near-death to show off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drawing of the boss coming soon!~

Link had been correct in his assumption. He did get thrown around quite a few times. It was painful and he was not frustrated, but what did frustrate him was how Dark Link was on the other side of the tiles, leaning up against the doorway and watching in amusement with that dumb smirk of his. Lucky guy didn’t understand the struggle, being able to just hover above the floor worms that infested the underground. Eventually he gave up and sat down on the ground next to a pond of water...when he noticed something.

The lily pads floating on the water...they weren’t just regular lily pads.

They were bombs disguised to look like flowers. Possibly to defend themselves, and more likely than not the kind that would explode if you so much as touched them. He gently reaches over, grabbing the edge of the green leaf and tugging it to himself. He stands up and grabs a cattail, taking a couple paces backwards before leaning forward and gently prodding the plant to see. It does not explode upon contact. A snicker from the other side of the room, and Link only rolls his eyes before gently picking up the pretty pink flower. It had to be about the size of an average pumpkin...but with the weight of a couple apples.

He walks over, getting the attention of some of the worms under the floor. Gently he sets down the flower next to them, and when he walks onto one it launches him away, but the flower explodes at the same time, sending the worm flying and travelling to the underground tunnels, forcing up all of the worms out of the ground. Link recovers as quickly as he can, slashing at all of them before they can cower again. Surely they would not fall for it again.

After successfully killing all of the worms, he makes it to the other side, and Dark Link pushes himself up from the wall he’d been leaning on, pretending to be asleep just to try and irritate Link. But it wouldn’t work. Not this time. “Took you long enough,” he chuckles. “But I’ll admit, it was quite amusing, witnessing you being beaten around by mere worms. What a hilarious sight.” Despite the use of such mirthful terms, Dark Link was not smiling. Neither was his original copy.

“Let’s just keep going,” Link bites out, and the other only grins in victory at successfully aggravating Link, following behind him more willingly now that he’d gotten what he wanted. Well, at least the guy was being useful now. For the vast majority of the puzzles Dark Link adds in his input whenever Link gets confused, helping him run the timers as Link had been limping from the bite of a critter mutated by dark magic. It was nice that he was actually helping for once.

When they’d reached the boss room, Link finally speaks up about it.  
“’Don’t expect these acts of kindness in the future’, you’d said,” he points out, and Dark Link only grunts. “Don’t push it fairy boy. I will leave you to fight whatever this boss is by yourself. I won’t be your little annoying fairy guidance. I will not give you information on how to—“ Link cuts the other off with a “okay, okay, jeez. I won’t question it. Feel better?” The shadow only scoffs. “No.” Could he only feel negatively? To Link, that appeared to be the case.

The entire room surrounding them started to tremble, causing Link to nearly lose his balance. A huge chunk of the ceiling comes tumbling down, revealing flurry of purple tentacles, wavering about. Upon closer inspection, Link notices that every single one of the suckers were actually eyeballs. Starting from the tips and going all the way to the base, eyes gradually open like a wave, until all of them are open and staring right at the two identical heroes. The entire creature falls down from the ceiling and into a large pool of water, sending up a wave and splashing Link, turning his skin red and burning horribly. The water was full of acid, he realizes.

Upon looking back up, the tentacles have parted to reveal a giant mouth, no body, just rows upon rows of teeth. He keeps in mind that he would need to steer clear of that if he wished to live. The mouth makes a motion as if it were swallowing, teeth grinding together and pulling apart several times before the thing lets out a nasty shriek, initiating the start of the battle.

Dark Link immediately disappears into Link’s shadow, final words being “good luck”. Link barely looks up in time before he’s swatted harshly off to the side by a massive tentacles, the weird feeling of eye slime brushing against his torso causing him to shudder. Absolutely disgusting.

Link ended up slashing at one of the eyes, causing the creature to let out a horrible scream. The appendage temporarily falls limp, slamming harshly into the ground. So he raises his sword, starting to cut repeatedly at the leather-like skin protecting it. Eventually he manages to cut it off, purple blood spewing everywhere and the monster letting out another shriek, retracting the limb and dumping it into the water. One limb down.

Link does this a couple more times with other limbs, before the boss finally gets fed up, and the sound of ripping fills the room as spikes emerge from through the skin of the boss, blood dripping down where they emerged. The black spikes were sharper than a sword, and Link just barely dodges a swing, another with his shield. But he had been knocked back by the blow, and judging from the dent it left, even a shield made of Hylian Steel would not be able to hold.

But the tentacles were striking with such rapid succession...Link didn’t know if he could hold up...  
Just as another tentacle swings down, which would be the final blow for the shield Link had, Dark Link appears above him, deflecting the blow and slashing at the spikes right at the base. The things were rock hard, unless you got right at the edge...

It was all a blur. But Dark Link had managed to get through the spikey defenses of the beast, and when there were no longer tentacles to protect the main body, had started throwing those lily pad bombs into the creature’s maw. It was forced to eat them, and after consuming several of them, lets out a whine before exploding into ash, which falls like confetti throughout the room. Soon as all of the ash has settled, Dark Link finally turns away from the gradually clearing pools of water, facing Link and grinning smugly. “And that’s how it’s done.”

...Well then.


	6. New Names and Domestic Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kind of lied about sending you all a picture of Arkatuthus. Unfortunately I've lost most interest in using my drawing tablet, preferring to draw 98% of the time in my notebook, as I feel I have more control when using a pencil than a digital object--because I'm handling the object I'm drawing on, not looking at what I'm drawing on another device. So it's just easier. But I've finally gotten around to updating the story at least, and I hope that it satisfies you, even if it doesn't really satisfy me. Personally I think this whole project is gross but I really need to push myself, haha.
> 
> Enjoy, I hope! ;o;

“Show-off,” Link had finally said once they’d taken the portal outside of the dungeon, and Dark Link had cocked his head back in a laugh. “We’re the same, but opposites. You’re modest and I’m cocky.” The guy had shrugged, and Link supposed the other had a point. “Then I guess your name should be Knil, right?” With that the darker counterpart paused, and to Link’s surprise, actually pondered it. “It would make it easier to differentiate between the two of us,” the physical apparition reasoned, before slowly nodding, turning to Link—whom doesn’t ususally do this much talking—and grinned. “Yeah, Knil. That’s gotta be the best idea you’ve managed to come up with yet.” The newly dubbed Knil looked sarcastic, but if Link managed to look long enough, it would become apparent that there was an undertone of appreciation in the anti-hero’s darkened features.

“So what next?” Knil questioned after about a half an hour of walking. Link thought for a moment, “well, I think we should just relax for a couple of days, regain our bearings before tackling the next objective.” ‘And get to know you better; trust seems to still be a thin rope’, Link added to himself, not daring say it aloud. “I can learn to appreciate a lazy day,” Knil says with an approving nod. “After being defeated for you after several years of waiting for you to come into the Water Temple and then being ressurected only to be taken out on a new adventure; yeah, kicking back and relaxing sounds like a great idea.” Link nodded in agreement. “I always took a break between battles; if you just drink a Red Potion and charge head-first into the next battle, you’re not going to last long. It may be magic, but it doesn’t cure you of everything. And you just kind of need that luxury every now and again; adventures themselves are just stressing in general.” Knil didn’t know this hardship, but he did feel weary from their previous challenge, and supposed he could start to relate.

“Now, let’s see if we can find somewhere nearby to wash off these clothes. I’m starting to smell like rotting sushi,” said Knil glumly, earning a quiet and stifled but hearty laugh from the lighter hero.

*------*

They’d decided that the woods were too far away, being a several day trek without a horse, and Link did not own Epona anymore. Not after having been sent back in time; winning her from Ingo was a future thing in a perilous, desolate off-shoot timeline. The two heroes had set up a camp in the area, and Knil had managed to catch one of the pesky ravens in the area, and they’d cooked and eaten it. It was then Link understood the phrase ‘tastes like chicken’, though he’d refrained from saying it, he was sure that his darker counterpart was thinking the same thing. Later they had decided they didn’t want to trouble the Zoras with contaminated waters of the blood of their deceased threat, and had fortunately found a pond that does not flow into their territory in the area within the vastness of Hyrule Field, and were currently cleaning up their tunics, dipping them in the fairly clear and untainted waters, slowly and shamefully dying purple. Perhaps come rain it would wear off. “I’d prefer a fairy fountain,” Link said, “at least then blood wouldn’t be tainting the water.” Knil scoffed, wringing out his black gear. “Too happy for me; the serenity of this green field is already too much.” It was Link’s turn to scoff. “I’m sure you like it to some extent. I doubt Ganon could cast that much hate into a physical being.” Knil glanced up then, shaking out the wrinkles the best he could. “Darkness is all I’ve known, Link. I was created from it. Maybe if I’d been some fanatic I’d be able to change, but I’m only bound to you by honor, not obligation. I’m a dark entity, quite honestly, being used to do the Goddesses bidding, just as you yourself are, and have been since the death of Demise.”

Link hadn’t looked at it that way before. Not just the being crafted from pure darkness thing, but how they were being used by the Goddesses. “But for a noble cause,” Link said, more of a reassurance to himself than providing a reason for the other male. “Believe what you want, hero. That’s your perspective, but regardless, it boils down to the fact that you will be forever reincarnated in an eternal cycle of war to defeat the evils that poison this cursed world.”

Link did not say anything for awhile after that, mind too heavy with the thoughts. They wouldn’t stop him from this path, but...he’d not thought of it so deeply before; he found he didn’t know why that even now he pondered it.

*------*

That night they had found an area closer to the Death Mountain. They were doing this completely out of order, Link knew, but he still had all of his “toys” from before, and in regards to distance he didn’t want to have to criss-cross the field more than he had to. Besides, there weren’t nearly as many puzzles as before. It seemed as if more power was channeled into the bosses at the end.

Link and Knil the next day do in fact make it to Kakariko Village, though the latter male had to hide away with Link as they travelled through as to not cause an uproar. The Hylian had made a straight beeline towards the gates that would lead to the Death Mountain, only to find that the gates had been shut again. “Halt!” Exclaimed the soldier, standing firm unlike the previously slouched posture, spear standing tall as if in an attempt to intimidate. Link wasn’t scared in the slightest, but he wouldn’t go against a soldier of the Royal Guard, either. “Death Mountain’s Goron population as of late has been hostile, and thus no visitors are permitted entry. Please turn back now, for your own safety.” There was a ghostly chuckle that only Link could surely hear, and the young man backed off, sighing and sitting down on one of the ledges in the village, now trying to figure out how to get past the sentry.

“Any ideas?” Link questioned the air, as if to himself, but he and one other knew better. A disembodied voice says in response, “we could look for ways around. Like givings in the walls around the gates to climb over.” It reminded Link of the moss wall by Hyrule Castle, and he nods. “Yeah, let’s do that.” As night fell and less eyes could watch, Link and a transparent Knil were active, managing to slip into a small space between Impa’s home and the wall, scanning the area behind. Upon prodding at the rock wall behind it was found that there were grooves in the rock, and Link fishes out his grappling hook.

“There’s not a lot of room to give it some momentum,” Link comments with a grunt, trying several times to get, without any of said momentum, for the grappling hook to clasp onto the carved but firm stone at the top of the rock wall. He really wished that the Kokiri hadn’t gotten ahold of it and broken the cuff. All he had was the metal chains and the hook now, making the job a whole dear harder. After about four tries, the Hero of Courage manages, tugging a few times to make sure the grip was firm. Fortunately he’d thought in the past to wrap the chains in sap and rope, so that the metal beneath would not be hard on the hands.

Link lets Knil climb the rope first, for some reason more secure in letting someone sneak in before himself. Link did not like breaking rules—even when he’d had to sneak in to see Zelda, that was of dire importance—and when the other disappears over the other side Link climbs as well, and when he reaches the top, sees how much of a drop it would be. He twists the hook so that it’s free from the rock wall, bracing himself before jumping, and to prevent injury to his ankles, rolls on the ground to his feet to catch his fall.

There’s clapping, albeit quiet, and Link turns to see his darker counterpart to be the culprit. “I suppose hovering is an easier but less interesting way to go about things. Well done,” he says, and it sounds almost mocking, but Link brushes it off and shrugs, putting away the remnants of the grappling hook and proceeding towards the Death Mountain.

Now they’d gotten past the human barriers, now it was a matter of getting up the mountain and to the Gorons to see what their issues were. They surely wouldn’t take well to outsiders, and there was no easy way going about sneaking around them, especially when they were surely in need as much as the other factions of Hyrule. Link supposed that would be an issue to regard tomorrow, as they set up a small camp secluded from Goron or Hyrulian faction and park it for the night.


End file.
